The Indianapolis journal. [volume], December 14, 1888, Page 4, Image 4

About The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904

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THE INDIANAPOLIS JODEN VniDAY, DECEMBER 14. 1838.
THE DAILY JOURNAL
FRIDAY, DhCLAiiiER 14, 1SSS.
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Bualneas Office 233 Editorial Rooms 242
Senator Riddleberger says: "I am a
Republican only so far as the matter of patri
otism is involved. With that out of the issue.
I am as good a Democrat as any one." If it
were not for patriotism almost anybody could
be a Democrat
The law requires the boards of State prison
directors to submit their reports to the Gov
ernor, but in the case of the Jeffersonville
penitentiary this requirement seems to havo
been etricken out and "Louisville Courier
Journar inserted.
Mr. Bynuh voted against the direct-tax
bill, which restores to Indiana a forced loan of
$7G9,OO0. As a disciple of Mr. Mills, an ad
vocate of free trade, and a friend of the sup-plus-he
could not do otherwise. Bynum,
Mills and Oates, of Alabama, figure among
those who voted against the bill.
The Canadian governmetS is about to adopt
a counterpart of our excellent national bank
ing system. When Canada shall have adopt
ed, one by one, all the distinctive features of
this government, she will be ready to adopt
the government itself. Then annexation
will come. Things are drifting that way.
The ex-confederates object to the payment
of any money cut of the treasury which they
are not to 6hare, and as the direct tax bill is
intended to restore to several Northern States
funds raised to help put down the rebellion,
Mr. Cleveland is expected to regard the South
ern feeling in the natter, and veto the meas
ure, lie will doubtless stand by his friends.
Messrs. Bynum, Howard and Shively,
Democratic members of Congress from Indi
ana, voted against the bill repaying the di
rect tax to the States. The constituents of
these gentlemen should bear this in mind
when they ask for ro-election. Th treasury
of this State is eadly in need of replenishing,
and the sum of $709, 000, which the passage
of that bill would give the State, would save
just that amount to the tax-payers of Indiana.
Secretary Whitney kindly acknowledges
to a New York interviewer that thejlepublic
ans made & magnificent political fight, but
adds that the Democrats were at a disadvant
age in the campaign, because they had to
make so extensive a line of defense. What
they had to defend" was President Cleveland
and President Cleveland's policv: but isn't it a
little disloyal for Mr. Whitney to speak thus
of his chief and his blunders? Must Mrs.
Whitney come to tho rescue of the adminis
tration again?
THAT wonderful old man, M. DeLes3eps,
teems likely to fulfill his own prediction that
he will live to see the completion of the Pan
ama canal. He is theatrical, not to say
spectacular, in his methods, but withal ho is
eminently shrewd and practical, and has a
remarkable gift for transferring to others a
measure of his own enthusiasm in tho some-
t
what unpromising enterprise. He has at least
earned a final triumph by his ceaseless efforts,
whether he gains it or not.
Dr. Dabney, of the State University, in
his recent letter "in the interest of political
science' stated that there wero 200 floaters
In the town of Bloomington, and intimated
that the Republicans got all of them. The
official returns show that the Democrats made
a gain of fifteen in Bloomington, while in
Van Buren township, in the same county,
where there are no floaters, the Republicans
gained forty. That is about the way it went
all over the State. The Democrats made
their gains in the cities, where there was a
purchasable vote, while the Republicans made
tktirs among the farmers and soldiers.
ECCATOH VoonutEs, the telegraph warns
t3 is about to 6tartle tho country with "an
elaborate speech" on tho Senate tariff bill.
Of course, it is no trouble for tie florid Sena
tor to make a stunning speech on any sub
ject, but he excels on economic- subjects of
far-reaching comprehension, requiring pro
found study and uncommon analytical and
logical powers to do them justice. The
picturesque Wabash orator bring to the per
formance of f uch undertakings a highly-dramatic
manner, a sonorous vocabulary, au ex
uberant imagination, an unfailing self-confidence,
and a boundless innocence of real
knowledge of the subject.
n
Bosto:: gave a Democratic majority at the
J0Tmber election, but when 17,000 women
turned out and voted for school officers this
reek tho entire Republican ticket was over
whelmingly successful. The moral seems
cbvicua to the intelligent and progressive
mind; but unfortunately its eCect is some
what weakened by the circumstance that
Washington Territory, which elected a Demo
cratic congressional Delegate two years ago,
when women voted, this year, when the
women were deprived of the glorious priv
ilege, chose a Republican for the office. On
the whole, the wisdom of conferring the right
of suffrage upon women is still undetermined.
OLD SOLDIERS AND THE CIVIL SERVICE.
The Grand Army Review, claiming to speak
for the soldiers, oomplains that during four
Republican administrations "not one veteran
of the war who wa3 not an adherent, politi
cally, of the party in power was ever ap
pointed to a public office. " In other word3,
no Democratic soldier wa3 appointed to office
during Republican administrations. It would
be a sufficient answer to thi3 to reply that a
large majority of the old soldiers are Repub
licans, and as long as there are plenty of Re
publican soldiers, fit and competent, aud will
ing to take office, whv Bhould a Republican
administration appoint Democrats! A soldier
ought to understand the laws and usages of
war too well to expect any special recognition
in politics from a party he has opposed, at the
expense of an equally good soldier on the
other side.
In this connection, it may be of interest to
cite the legislation on the subject. In March,
lSGo, a month before the close of the war,
Congress enacted and President Lincoln ap
proved the following:
Section 1754. "Persons honorably dis
charged from the military and naval service
by reason of disability resulting from wounds
or sickness incurred in the line of duty, shall
be preferred for appointments to civil offices,
provided they are found to possess the business
capacity necessary for the proper discharge of
the duties of such offices."
Section 1753. "In grateful recognition of
the services, sacrifices and sufferings of per
sons honorably discharged from the military
and naval service of the country, by reason of
wounds, disease, or expiration of terms of en
listment, it is respectfully recommended to
bankers, merchants, manufacturers, mechan
ics, farmers and persons engaged ininduitrial
pursuits to give them the preference for ap
pointments to remunerative situations and
employments."
These are now Sections 1754 and 1755 of the
Revised Statutes. The first is mandatory and
the second advisory. Both imply that, other
things bein equal, persons who had served
in the army or navy, during the war, should
be given the preference in public and private
employments. In 1S7G, the following was en
acted: "Provided, that in making any reduction
of force in any of the executive departments
the head of such department shall retain those
persons who may be equally qualified who
have been honorably discharged from the
military or naval service of the United States,
and the widows and orphans of deceased sol
diers and sailors."
Ii will bo observed that, while these pro
visions are plainly in the interest of old sol
diers, and intended to give them the prefer
ence over others in public appointments, they
also plainly require the possession of suitable
qualifications. The idea is that, "other things
being equal," those who have served in the
army are entitled to preference. The first
rules adopted under the civil-service law, in
1SS3, provided that honorably-discharged sol
diers then in the civil service, and the widows
aud orphans of such, should be exempt from
the competitive examination required of
other persons for promotion. And the law
itself says, "nothing herein contained shall be
construed to take from those honor
ably discharged from the military
or naval service any preference
conferred by section 1754 of the Revised
Statutes." The eject of this provision is to
still preserve for old soldiers the preference
among those who have passed the competitive
examination required by the law for original
appointments. All these provisions were
faithfully observed under Republican admin
istrations. There is nothing in any of them,
either ia letter or spirit, that would require a
Republican administration to appoint, retain
or promote a Democratic soldier in preference
to a Republican, though in certain cases a
soldier is entitled to preference, regardless of
politics, over those who have not been soldiers.
In making appointments under the civil-
servicb law, other things being equal, prefer
ence is given to those who have served as sol
diers, and in making removals the veterans,
without regard to politics, have a first claim
to retention. For all this legislation favora
ble to the soldiers they are indebted to the
Republican party.
VTHE effect of the direct-tax bill, if it should
become a law, would be to refund nearly $20,-
000,000 to the States which paid their pro
portion of the tax levied by the act of July,
1SG1. The measure was called a tax, but it
was more in the nature of a forced loan. It
was levied on the States in proportion to pop
ulation. Bach State was allowed to collect
the tax in its own way, and those which paid
within a specified time were allowed a rebate
or commission for collecting. All the North
ern States paid their pro rata shares in full,
that of Indiana being $7C0. 144. The South
ern States, which had already seceded from
the Union, paid nothing, but partial payment
was enforced against some of them by levying
on property in possession of the government.
Alabama still owes $311,023, Georgia $177,-
404, Mississippi $311,GG7, North Carolina
$190,000, Tennessee $2S 1,703, Texas $225.-
COO, Virginia $213,501. The argument in
favor of refunding the tax is that it was a
forced loan from the States; that the general
government has had the use of the money
twenty-fire years, and, with a surplus in the
treasury, 13 now abundantly ablo to repay it.
Tee opposition to the repayment, cormnpj
from Southerners and Democrats, is that it
is unconstitutional to refund a loan already
collected and paid into the treasury; that it
would be an act of favoritism to the Northern
States, and therefore unjust to the South,
and that the government is under no legal or
moral obligation to do it. The refunding bill
passed the Houso by 178 to 0G( a large num
ber of members not voting. It had previously
pasjed the Senate. That body will undoubt
edly concur in some slight amendments made
v
by the House, and the bill will then go to the
President. The impression prevails in Wash
ington that he will veto it If so, whatever
reasons he may give for his veto, the ral one
will undoubtedly be that the bill wr.uld re-
duca the existing surplus by nearly $10, 000,
GOO. If he vetoes it he will give some plaus
ible and demagogical reason for it, but the-
real one will be that he wants to preserve the
surplus intact as long as possible as an appar
ent vindication of his free-trade and other
financial vagaries.
An interesting movement has just been in
augurated by the meeting of the Southern
Interstate Immigration Convention, at"Mont
gomery, Ala. The object of the convention is
to devise practical ways of advertising the re
sources of the South and attracting immigra
tion. The delegates, representing nearly
every Southern State, are, many of them,
connected with largo business interests, and
the proceedings of the convention thus far in
dicate a disposition to deal with the subject in
a practical aud enterprising spirit. There can
be no doubt that tho Southern States possess
great natural advantages and attrac
tion?, but the present social conditions
are not sucn, as to invite immicrration.
HO
By social conditions is meant not only
those relating to politics and the race ques
tion, which are gradually working themselves
out, but the question of schools, churches,
social advantages, markets, facilities of travel,
etc. The right kind of immicrration. if it can
be induced to go there, will, in time, work
great improvement in these conditions; but in
the meantime their low state of development
is a great drawback. The best thing the
Montgomery convention could do would be to
take strong ground in favor of free schools
and more of them, honest elections and a new
declaration of independence against Bourbon
rule.
It is now explained that Mr. Ilolman's res
olution in tho House relative to the use of
money in elections is not intended to call for
an investigation. Democratic leaders thinking
the time too short for such a proceeding. The
truth is that this resolution was merely one
feature of the Democratic plan to make cheap
political capital by crying "fraud" and giving
out the impression that crimes against the
ballot were committed by Republicans at the
late election. Nothing is further from their
intention than to honestly investigate charges
of illegal methods brought against either
party. In the cases where Republicans are
accused thev know that the charges are in
most instances based on the flimsiest founda
tion, and that those against members of their
e . .
own party are likely to be sustained
by the evidence. If the IIou3e com
mittee really wants any information
concerning election outrages and a corrupt
vote, citizens throughout the country, includ
ing some from Indiana who have observed
and suffered from Democratic rascality, will
willingly testify and will promise not to con-
sume unnecessary time in so uoinc. ine
virtuous role i3 new to the Democracy, and
extremely difficult, owing to the glaring con
trast between the actual character of the
party aud the one assumed.
An Indianapolis 4,speciar la the New York
Mail and Express ot Tuesday avers that to a
New Yorker the Hoosier capital is distinctly
provincial, and remarks, by way of illustration,
that the old railroad depot resembles a locomo
tive barn with a general air of want of sweep
ing and paint about It Inasmuch as the mag
nificent new station, built on the site of the old
one, was opened to the public three months ago,
it would appear that the writer of this "special''
must have left here early in the campaign and
carried his manuscript with him. The bad
walking will account for the delay in publica
tion. Tue United States district attorney at Pitts
burg announces it as his opinion that the send
ing of postal cards as notification to delinquent
tax-payers comes under the new law making it
a misdemeanor to send cards of a threatening
nature through the mails. This will make some
difference to unfortunate delinquents. The ex
tra mileage which is chargsd up against him ev
ery time a card is sent win, perhaps, be no
greater in case of a sealed letter, but the indus
trious official will hardly estimate the cost of
his labor in sealing and stamping it at less than
a dollar.
To the Editor of the Indianapolis Journal: '
Are the articles wheat corn, oats and pota
toes protected by the tariff If so, please in
form to what extent each article is per bushel.
Greenwood. Ind. Subscriber.
Under the present tariff there is a duty of 20
cents a bushel on wheat, 10 cents a bushel on
corn, 10 cents a bushel on oats and 15 cents a
bushel on potatoes.
To the Editor of the Indianapolis Journal:
1. Can Jefferson Davis vote? 2. Does he
draw a pension. E. c
Redkev, Ind.
No, to both questions.
ABOUT PEOPLE AND THINGS.
Mrs. Zoe Dana Undeshill, the story-
writer, is a daughter of he editor of the New
Ycrk Sun.
Professor Fernald, of Amherst College,
has one of the finest collections of "leaf-rollers"
in the world.
Dr. Archibald Geikie, the eminent Scotch
geologist, is a little man, with a big, nearly
bald head and a thoroughly bcotch countenance.
Among the twenty odd women inspectors at
the New York custom-house are a niece of
Thurlow Weed and a sister of Roacoe Cockling.
Ex-Governor Berrt, of Bristol, N. 11, is in
good health at ninety-two. He is seen on the
streets of that town every pleasant day, as he
takes long walks and drives.
Benjamin Harrison will be the sixteenth
President of the United States having only one
given name. No man bas ever been elected
President who parted his name on one side.
Dr. (jRACE WoLCOTTand throe other Ameri
can physicians of the same sex were recently
honored in Vienna by an invitation from Prof.
Bilroth, the great surgeon, to attend his private
clinic and witness bis operations.
Lady Drcmmoxd, one of the American girls
who married a title and came to grief, is now
livlne in Hartford. Conn., with her seven-year-
old daughter, who la heiress to V3O0,QC0, trbictl
lawyer are trying to obtain for her.
Mb. Wiiittier will be eighty-one years old
next Monday. One of the birth day presents he
received last year, and which touched him
ieeply, wa3 a balsam pillow made by an Indim
firl from a treo that crew by the grave of Helen
Hunt Jackson.
The Grant Monument Association of New
York have fixed the cost of the propaed me
morial to General U. S. Grant at $500,000. At
present the association has only $130,000 on
hand, and it is said Congress will be asked to
furnish $250,000 of the balance.
Tue Duke and Duchess of Marlborough . will
entertain a number of friends at Blenheim on
Christmas. Karly next year they will give a
shooting rany a chance at the Blenheim pre
serves. This is the latest, and so the story
that the Dnchess had fled to the Riviera cannot
be true.
Mme. Patti-Nicolini has aereed to return to
Paris soon as Juliette. This decision was
reached beeause M. Gounod fell upon his knees
before her and, with tears in hit eyes, pleaded
to her not to deaert him. Pattt saw that t wm
a crying shame for such a man to pray to her in
vain, so she wept copiously, placed her fair
hand upon his head and told him she jronld
come tacit at tho susal rates of a small fortune
for each performance. President Carnot, who
was seated in a box, was informed of the joyful
r.ews and politely shed a few tears. Never be
fore had the publio seen Carnot weep.
There is a rumor in Washington that this
year Mrs. Cleveland is going to dress more eirl
ithly, use lighter colors and fabrics, and simpler
cuts than heretofore, since she came totbe
White House. Mrs. Foli om broucht her horns
a lot of new gowns from Paris, conforming to
this new "fad" of Mme. la Presidents.
A circumstance not generally known is that,
according to law, all mail matter addressed to
Sarah Polk, Lucretia It. Garfield and Julia D.
Grant may be sent free of charge. No signa
ture or mark is necessary to the free carrisge of
mail matter to either of the above-named per
sons, all widows of Presidents.
The postace-stamp-collection mania eannot be
said to be dying out At a recent auction in
London the following prices for rare specimens
ware realized: The blue block Cape error, 15;
the "Lady MeLeod'' Trinidad local, 13 13s.;
the three-lire Tuscany on the original envelope,
12 12s.; the New Brunswick shilling,
5; Nova Scotia ehillinc. 4 5s.; the penny
black Great Britain, with V. R. in cor
ner. 5 153. All tho colonial stamps realized
ccod prices, showing that the interest in vari
eties has largely increased.
White Birch is the favored wood in the man
ufacture of toothpicks, the wood being deli
cately white, as well as sweet to the taste, and
there is a constant demand for the goods
at a little less than $2 a case of
150,000 picks. At Harbor Springs, Mich.,
the birch logs are sawed, steamed, and
cut into ribbons three inches wide; these are
run through the machinery, eight or ten at
once, and fall in finished pieces into baskets
placed for their reception. The packing is done
principally by expert Indian women,
Mr. Stcart Cumberland, the mind-reader,
tells this story about Isabella, the ex-Queen of
Spain. He was experimenting with her in try
ing to discover an article hidden in another
room; and, of course, was anxious that she
should concentrate her thoughts' on the article
and where she had hidden it. All went well till
they had passed the corridor between the apart
ments, when suddenly it cane Into hsr
Majesty's head to tell the thought-reader a bit
of gossip which she had just heard. After this
was dons, "By-tbe-by," said she, "I was to keeD
thinking of something, was 1 not? What is it?"
No wonder the experiment failed.
Owing to the widening of the approaches to
the new gate, a number of the inmates of the
old Dorotheenstaedter Cemetery, in Berlin, had
to be disturbed in their last resting-places.
Some eight or ten well-known celebrities were
exhumed and their remains reinterred in the
French cemetery. Among these were the re
mains of Fichte (died in 1814), which have now
been placed side by side with those of Hegel; of
the jurist Carl August Kleuze, the philosopher
George Andreaa Gabler, the couueillor of medi
cine W. Bremer, the novelist Baroness von
Imhoff, together with those of Hufeland and his
learned co-worker. Professor Osann. This God's
acre now contains the largest number of
Germany's great dead.
COMMENT AND OPINION.
If there is any person in the country who we
should think would wish to oe saved from some
of his friends, it is President Cleveland. New
York Sun.
Is it not time for Southern men to stop talk
ing about the "all pervading, all conquering
Anglo-Saxon race?" and so rearrange their poli
ties that "the South' shall not solidly misman
age and bring to defeat any party with which It
allies itselu New lork Herald.
The Democratic members of the popular
branch of Congress have done even more than
the President himself to drive their party out of
power and to make its entrance into power again
at any time during the next twenty years ex
tremsly improbable. St. Louis Globe-Democrat
It is to be said for the present management of
the Postoffice Department that it is generally
impartial in the distribution of its blunders. In
this respect it knows no North, no South, no
East, no West, which faet may be a slight con
solation in tho midit of daily grief. Iowa State
Ueeister.
If the South entertain the notion that they
can continue to suppress the negro vote and rob
the ballot-box with impunity, ther are grievous
ly mistaken. There are thousands of white Re
publicans in the tuth who are just as greatly
wronced by such methods as are the colored Re
publicans. To them the cry of 'negro suprem
acy" will not apply. Detroit Tribune.
Ir President Cleveland was ever in favor of
civil-service reform, why did be not, at the be
ginning of his administration, place the railway
mail service, one of the most important branch
es of government work, under the operation of
the Pendleton law? Simply beeause such action
would have prevented the turning out of com
petent Republican clerks. Cleveland Leader.
The poor need our sympathies and our aid
especially at this Yule tide of the year, but,
thank God, our poor are not getting poorer,
and the gap is not widening between the ex
tremes of opulence and pauperism. Bat the whole
structure of American society is being lifted up
to a higher plane. The rich are getting richer
and the poor better oft; thanks, first of all, to
the prottetive policy of the Republican party.
-Philadelphia Inquirer.
The majority of men are for temperance and
will array themselves so whenever the question
shall be presented as an issue of vital import
ance, if all is true that is asserted of tbe power
of the saloons and the primary influence of the
brewing firms that hold mortgages on them, it
does not imply that sneh influence can or will
dominate tbe country, though .acting in secrecy
and unison. It may hold the balance of power in
the great cities. Portland Oregonian.
The House can do the country a splendid
service and effectively rebuke the lobbyists' by
promptly passinc tne bill incorporating tbe
Maritime Canal Company. It is an American
enterprise through and through. It is the only
mteroceame measure that promises success and
assures American domination. Common patriot
ism ought to have congressional expression by a
prompt and decisive vote of approval of tbe
grand project Pass the bill! Troy (N. Y.)
It is now well settled that the State has a
right to fix reasonable charges for railroad serv
ice. This right gives the public ample protec
tion against excessive charges. It then becomes
the interest of the publio and of the railroad
companies alike to have uniform rates and the
most economical and efficient service. This can
only be secured by co-operation between the
roads. Without this co-operation, there is an
enormous waste, from which both the publie
and the railroads suffer. Boston Advertiser.
It makes very little difference, really, what
the Democrats in the House do at this session.
Their action will be the last expiring struggle of
a party which has been discredited by the peo
ple and deprived of power after a very short
lease, and so their antics will be rather a source
of amusement than otherwise. The best way
for the party to save its credit is to preserve an
attitude of dignified solemnity and do nothing,
and then it will be sure not to fret any aeeoer
into the mire than ltnor USaa Francisco
Chronicle.
Just now the Democrats are amusing them
selves by asserting, with mueh iteration and
mock solemnity, that General Harrison was
elected by tbe corrupt use of enormous sums of
money. Such talk will of course be taken for
what it is worth and will impose on nobody.
Smarting under defeat, and seeing its doctrines
repudiated by the great mas of intelligent peo
ple, the tree-trade Democracy seeks to console
itself by throwing mud at the victors and insult
ing American manhood. Its charges are simply
the ravings of disappointed seekers for place,
power and spoils. Rochester Democrat and
Chronicle.
A GOOD MALIGNED.
Xvro Hold, Bad llumotliti IntUt that the
rrivate Secretary Is a Wins tier,
Atlanta Conatitution.
A studious attempt has been made to conceal
the f set that Elijah Halford, General Harmou'i
5rivat secretary, is a profeee ional whistler,
uat wby this attempt should be made at this
time it is impossible to say.
We have read the Republican platform more
than once, but wo can discover no plank therein
which raises an objection to genuine and melo
dious whistling Such a gift is not necessarily
an evidence of partisanship or sectionalism, nor,
on the other hand, is it an evidence of disloy
alty. Wby, then, should Mr. Elijah Halford,
aided and abetted by his cewsDSDer, the Indian
apolis Journal, strive to convince the American
publie that he is not tbe sweetest whistler to be
found in the West!
Fortunately the Constitution has been able to
collect some evidence on this subject that can
not be disposed of by mere denial on the part of
Mr. Halford and his newspaper. Recently, Mr.
James Whitcomb Riley and Mr. William Nye
made a social visit to Atlanta, and while they
were here the Constitution took ad van tape of
their knowledge to investigate tbe charges
atralost Mr. Elijah Halford in regard to his
whistling abil ties.
Mr. Rily s&oite in part a follows: "I have
known Lije for years in faet I have dedicated
some of my poems to him and there has never
been a day when I was in his presence when he
did not whistle. He whistles line a canary with
a rape seed in his throat, because he can't help
it. He jumps rapidly from one tune to another,
and kejs them all very hib, but it is all very
touching and soulful. Tbe denial published in
the Indiananohs Journal i3 all a joke. Every
man on the Journal knows that the people on
the streets which Halford travels on his way
home, sit up until 4 o'clock in the morning in
order to hear him whis tie as he goes by."
Mr. William Nye says: 'I was never in the
Journal office but once, and that satisfied me.
Mr. Halford whistled all the time, and it was a
whistle that could be heard in the press-room
above tbe din of tho machinery. It was a trifle
wild in tbe upper notes, but it was a heartfelt
whistle a medley shrill but sweet I wss very
clad I heard it but I do not want to hear it
again. It percolated my. whole being, as it
were, and I have it with me yet, in the shape of
a broken down constitution and a few shattered
nerves."
In our opinion, this evidence settles the mat
ter. Only tbe enemies of Mr. Halford will here
after deny that he has a talent for whistling.
REV. DR. WILLIAM II. SCOTT,
Father of Mrs. Benjamin Harrison.
QUEER FRIENDS.
People from Whom the President and Ills
Wife Should Pray for Deliverance.
Atlanta Constitution.
A number of innocent-minded and provincial
people at the South friends and admirers of
President Cleveland, amone whom must be
classed the Constitution would like to know
the meaning (the true inwardness, as it were)
of the long and specific denials of slanders that
are said to bo in circulation abont the Presi
dent's home life and bis personal habits.
These same innocent-minded and provincial
people would like to know whether these spec fie
and detailed denials are really put forth by the
friends of Mr. Cleveland, or whether they are
intended to give wider publicity to the slanders
which they profess to denounce. In all proba
bility not one person in ten thoussnd has ever
heard of these slanders, or even suspected that
any such outrageous reports as have been de
nied were in circulation; and it is safe to say
that no reputable man or woman that heard
them would for an Instant believe them.
Under tbeie circumstances, why is it deemed
necessary to deny in the most painfully elabo
rate manner a series or shocking slanders which
it would be impossible for a sane human being
to believe or a reputable person to circulate?
We have seen two of these denials, one from a
correspondent of the New York Times, and an
other embodied in an alleeed interview with
Mrs. "Whitney, the wife of the Secretary of the
Navy, and they both leave the impression that
they are made with a sinister purposes. We may
be doing injustice here, but that is the impres
sion the denials leave on our minds.
The object of tbe writer in the Times appears
to have been to advertise the slanders to the
public. The object of Mrs. Whitney (if there
port of her conversation is correct which we do
not believe) seems to be to stab her dear friend,
Mrs. Cleveland, with a few of the sharp pointed
javelins that society women launch at each
other under tbe cover of friendship and polite-
ner& A roan can see it, but only a woman can
thoroughly appreciate the sting that underlies
the remarks attributed to Mrs. Whitney in de
scribing Mr. and Mrs. Cleveland on tbe train
that brought them South. During the week
that Mrs. Whitney was with them on the train,
she says (or. rather, she is reported as saying)
that the President and his wife rarely passed
each other without chucking chins, kissing and
having a "good hug." It would be difficult to
understand how a sensitive woman could appre
ciate such a defense as this.
Mr. Cleveland aud wife may well cry out for
somebody to save them from their alleged
friends. It ought to be apparent to them that
the shocking slanders that are said to be in cir
culation about them are beyond belief and need
no denial. No President the country has ever
had bas filled the office with more dignity, and
none have ever more completely won the re
spect and admiration of the American people.
As for Mrs. Cleveland, she stands to-day as a
perfect type of all that is lovely and gracious in
American womanhood, and more than this could
not be said.
The slanders retailed about them should be
permitted to lie where they originated in the
gutter.
Minority Representation.
Kvaosville Journal.
As related to the trusteeship and dictatorship
of the benevolent, reformatory and penal insti
tutions, this paper has before suggested the
placing of a Republican on each board at this
political juncture. This is a ravorable time to
do it while there is a lull in political feeling.
The Democracy has a decided majority in both
housss and on joint ballot, and can set an
example that hereafter cacnot be departed
from ' without incurring the disap
proval cf the public. The principle of
minority representation applies in these cases
with peculiar force. Usually there are three
trustees or directors for such institutions.
Really, the law ought to require that both tbe
principal political parties be represented; then
the dominant party on joint ballot in the Legis
lature could secure ascendancy on the boards
for the time being. In this way responsibility
would be measurably divided There are altnoet
always complaints of irregnlarities and
mismanagement in seen institutions.
Socuetimes there are sufficient reasons for such
charges, but on the other hand, sometimes they
result from personal schemes and disappoint
ments. It is well to keep a close watch over
them, but it is not desirable to have never-ending
aeandals in connection with these institu
tions. Decent people get sick and tired of such
talk, unless there is good cause for it By hav
lue both the principal parties represented on
these boards there would always be one member
to ferret out abuses. Boards taken altogether
from one party are not conducive of honesty and
economy.
When to Annex Canada,
Albany Journal.
"If you fellers want to annex Canada," said a
fur-clad traveler from Manitoba to an interested
crowd in one ot the depots, to-day, "you wan'.er
accomplish the augmentation in the winter.
The haul would be bigger. n When asked to ex
plain, tbe eccentric gentleman said that tbe
average depth of snow in Canada was about
fifteen feet in the winter. That bad the same
effect ia increasing the aroa of the country
as if the diameter of the earth were increased
thirty feet. Canada ia about three tboueand
miles in length from east to west. The fifteen
feet of snow, as a simple calculation shows,
increased the width by about twelve feet. The
distance from too northern to the loutbern
boundary of the Dominion is about fifteen hun
dred miles. Making the same calculation as
before, it is found that the mow increases that
distance by six fret. By an eaey calculation it
appears that these increases augment the totsl
area of the country by something over six square
mile. The mathematician who linteoed to the
stranger's discourse are still pondering over the
strangers figures. His haste prevented them
from being quite exact, but they have the effect
of making one think.
Dlstruat Their Profession.
Greencastle Democrat.
We hope onr Democratic friends are sincere
in their profesiiors of friendship for electoral
reform. Notbinc wou'.d gratify tbe Republican
minority in the Indiana Legislature more' than
to aid them in that direction. It may be well,
however, to remind tbsm that tbe on! States
that have adopted the Australian system of
voting are New York and Massachusetts, and
that a Democratic Governor aud prospective
Democratic candidate for President named Hill
promptly vetoed it in the Empire State.
Palmer's Mistake.
Waahington Specitl.
There is a widespread opinion among poli
ticians here that General Palmer, of Illinois,
made a fatal mistake politically in so summarily
withdrawing from the Grand Army of the Re
public. He was looked upon a Ue earning
man to leal tbe Democrats in their r.ext presi
dential contest His course, it is conceded, will
be likely to make even a Democratic conven
tion, as far as Northern sentiment is a factor,
very slow about taking him as a national candi
date. The desertions from the organization are
not as numerous as was expectel and the
Generals Illinois friends say taathe was a little
too hasty.
A JUDGE'S FECCLIAU ORDER.
An Attack Upon the Rights tf Newspapers to
Publish Testimony.
St. Taul Special to St. Louis Clobe-I'emncrat.
During the proero.s of the Olsen murder
trial to-day in the" District Court. Judge Kelly
let his temper get the better of his judgment
and issued an order the Czar of Russia would be
puzzled to duplicate. The order created a pro
found sensation, and was universally con
demned by attorneys and the general public
Knowing the power of the court, one afternoon
paper suffered itself to be bulldozed, and re
frained from any comments on the case. It was
such a high-handed assertion of authority that
tbe ukase brought out a general denunciation
from those who heard it. Later in the day
Judge Kelly modified, or rather amended his
order of this morning, reducing it to an order to
refrain from any comment which would bias
public opinion.
'1 he subject came up in the course of a com
plaint from Attorney Ewing, of the dofecse,
who said:
We are all responsible to the general public
for our actions here. The witnesses, officers
and every person connected with the trial era
answerable to the public. We act onir for the
public, and in their interest alone. Tbe news
papers are granted tho privilege of publishing
tbe details and the testimony of this high tri
bunal. It is a well-known principle that where
a paper is allowed to publish a report it meat
publish it fairly. I wanfto call the attention
of the court that morning papers, the Pioneer
Press, the Globe and the Minneapolis Tribune
have each coincided in dropping from the testi
mony of yesterday afternoon the testimony of
Professor Ball on the analysis of the spinal
column, and bis account of the third exhuma
tion. This is a matter of vast imoortance. It
stands a menace to the court It is a fatal
omission and tho public will not understand tbe
verdict when rendered. I call the notice of the
court to their method of procedure. 1 ask that
there be made a just discrimination upon this
horrible omission of proceedings. In case these
matters are not sent to the pubhe we will feel
like publishing a pamphlet of these proceedings
and giving tbem to tbe public We want to do
it as officers and as having -notified the court."
This looked as though Mr. Erwin wanted to
try the case though the newspapers. Judge
Kelly said that he had not been aware of any
omission, as he had not teen reading the morn
ing papers. Here tbe Judge turned to tbe
reporters aud ordered that there should be noth
ing eaid in the papers regarding the question
under discussion.
To make sure that he understood aright, &
reporter sought the Judge at tbe closing of court
and requested farther information. To this
request tho Judge exclaimed:
'Do you not understand the Eogslih
gcagei I say you ars not to mention this
Ian
sub-
ject."
Small groups gathered at tbe adjournment
and warm discussions ensued as to what were
the rights of a newspaper in the court-room. It
was the generally conceded opinion that a paper
could publish what testimony it pleased to
publish, and omit whatever it desired.
A Niue-Year-Okt Girl OfflclaL
Trenton (Jf. J.) Times.
The city of Trenton can claim the brightest
and youngest eity officer in the is t ate. Misa
Hattie Owens, very cute and clever for a girl of
nine, has been made second assistant city
clerk, and can now be seen on duty at crtm
hours filing away in their proper order tbe offi
cial documents in the city clerk's ofnee. When
Colonel Owens, the city clerk, took possession
of his new quarters, the publie documents ap
peared to be considerably disarranged, aud, on
complaining, he found a cheerful volunteer in
the person cf his young daughter. Miss Hattie,
who ia very snnU but sharo and methodical.
She was assigned the work of reassorting, and is
doing it well. She is rather annoyed on account
of being a girl, and announces that, as second
assistant clerk, she desires to be called "Harry.
and as such she is saluted by all the city offi
cials. Miss Harry Owens is a pretty girl of
pleasant address, and with the manner of one
twice her age.
A New Name for West Virginia.
Wheeling Intelligencer.
. Every State should have a distinct name of its
own, so far removed from the name of any cAher
State that no confusion cf names can aru. It
should, if possible, take its name from some dis
tinctive feature of its own. For this State
"Kanawha" answers every requirement. Ka
nawha" is the name of the greatest river of tbe
State, and of a great riebjand rapidly growing
part of the State. Our board of immigration
and development finds its work cot alittle inter
fered with by this confusion of ideas, resulting
from the similarity of the names of the two Vir
ginias. The obstruction of our progress is made
greater by the enormous and widely advertised
debt of the old State. The West Virginia of to
day is old enough, big enough and strong enough
to have an individuality of her own and a came
as distinct as her individuality. The change .
eau be made by an amendment to the Constitu
tion. If tbe people of tbe State desire the change
Congress will readily assent.
The "Dudley Letter."
Terre Haate Exprets.
It seems that after all the boasts of the Dem
ocrats at Indianapolis, that delectable craw
were not possessed of sufficient evidence to pro
cure tbe indictment and conviction of Mr. W. W.
Dudley; that they have not the evidence, and so
disgraceful is the outcome that the Democratie
United States district attorney prefers to re
sign his office rather than be further associate!
with the partisan effort to misuse the machinery
of the United States courts.
It makes but little difference whether or not
Dudley wrote the letter ascribed to him, so far
as the Republican party of Indiana is concerned,
because Mr. Dudley bad nothing to do with that
campaign. Even if he wrote the letter, there
was nothing done in pursuance thereof, because
the national committee, with which be was con
nected, wss a stranger, so to speak, to the In
diana fight Ben Harrison and the Indiana Re
publicans took care of Indiana.
There Will Bo No Family 1 rouble.
EvansTille Journal.
Our political opponents who are anticiptting
a big row in the Republican camp over the
spoils of victory are doomed to disapointment.
General Harrison will not have any such fool
ishness if the signs of the times are read aright.
Tho era of good feeling in tbe grand old party
has come, and come to stav. That every Re
publican cannot havo an office is a fact patent
tr all. Continued harmony ia the party
is tbe one thing needful, and no man who
bas its welfare at heart will stir up strife or
urge his own selfish interests to the exclusion
of others equally deserving.
Indianapolis Alsu Needs One.
Baltimore American.
There ought to be a publio vigilance commit
tee to take care of the nuisances who carry
burning cigars in street cars. Invariably, these
cigars are of the cheapest and most odorous
kind, for nobody but a cheap man would commit
auch an offense against publio decency. The
best possible way for a person to advertise his
lack of good manners is to be guilty of auch an
action. A vigilance committee wculi make
travel a great deal more pleasant, and would
contribute largely towards the education of
some people in the art of decorum.
Work fr the Next Speaker.
Washington Special.
Representative Dunham, of Illinois, who bas
a bead for fizures. remarked, to-day, that the
next Speaker of the House woald have no difu
culty in satisfying the claims on him for com
mittee places. There are eighteen States which,
on Account of their pUiiic&l majority, will hsra
no ciaim a to tb chairmanship of i eommiltee.
and there are eight other States which will be
entitled to only one chairman e neh. This will
inave forty-nioe chairmanships to be distributed
amocg twelve Statss.
Democratic Lcouomr.
Waihmcton Spfdal.
Public Printer Benedict bas made a request
for au immediate appropriation of JJ30.CO0 to
meet a deficiency in the appropriation for public
printing. This is a small item in the exnente
the Democratic tarty put tbe country to m tbe
passing of the Milla bill The prolongation of
the last aession required much extra printing.
One Person tVUo Uoem't Know AIL
Buffalo KipreM.
General Harrison's barber is a very close
mouthed fellow for a barber. lie has been in
terviewed, and he pretends that he doesn't
know who is goiag into the Cabinet It is to
the discredit of American newsiapr enterprise
that this mans secrets are not torn from him.
What the Public Would Like to Hear.
LouitTilU Courier-Journal.
The public would like to he.-r a debate be
tween William Nye and James Whitcomb Kilsy
on the problem, YUl the Coming Man be Uav-lessP
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